Against Her Better Judgement
by StoryDiva
Summary: Tyra knows it's a bad idea, but sometimes her heart tells her something different. Tyra & Tim. Vague season two, minus Landry.


A/N: Much love to Lara for the beta work and helping me with this. Tyra & Tim was quite hard to write. I hope I did them justice.

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**Against Her Better Judgement**

There were times when Tyra really hated life in Dillon, Texas. Okay, most of the time she absolutely loathed it and had no problem announcing that fact to whoever would listen. She had to believe that outside of this godforsaken town, there were people who cared about things besides football. She also had to believe that at some point in her future, she'd have a life that wasn't all about small towns and a high school on-again-off-again boyfriend, who spent most of his time drunk and treating her like dirt.

So it was a given that she would be in a bad mood. Tyra knew she spent a large portion of her life that way – but today had been exceptionally bad. She ended up failing her Trig test, thanks to a double shift at work the night before, and Mrs. T had hijacked her study hall to work on college applications. On top of everything, Tim Riggins had been shooting her woeful looks that usually meant one thing – he wanted to get back together..._again_.

This time she was resolved not to fall for his crap. It only led to her being hurt and pissed off when Tim went on his clueless, merry way.

She made her way through the school parking lot to her car and could see Tim out of the corner of her eye, hands in his pockets, heading toward her.

"Please tell me there is an important reason that you've been following me around all day." Tyra unlocked the door to her truck and dropped her bag on the seat before glancing in Tim's direction. When he didn't say anything, just offered up some stupid half-smile like it would get him into her panties, she slammed the door of her car closed, leaned against it, and crossed her arms over her chest in her best pissed off stance. She added, "Dammit, Tim. I'm not giving you a place to stay and I'm _definitely_ not taking your sorry ass back."

Tim rolled his eyes and inched closer to her. "Tyra…"

Tyra glared at him. She refused to be one of those girls who always took the jerk back when he hurt her. She didn't want to be like her mother or any of the hundreds of girls in this town who threw their lives away over some football player. She had bigger plans for life, mostly getting out of Texas, and Tim Riggins was _Texas Forever_.

He closed the last of the distance between them, his fingers running through her hair, and said, "C'mon Tyra."

"Jesus Tim. You can't keep doing this," Tyra replied. She slid away from him, unwilling to acknowledge the way her nerves still sparked when he touched her. She couldn't deny their physical compatibility. It was amazing when it was on…too bad it never lasted.

She forced herself to act like he didn't have any effect on her. She sighed melodramatically and said, "One minute you couldn't care less about what I do, and the next you're stalking me through the halls of the high school."

"I just miss you sometimes, is all," Tim replied with a shrug. He stared at her and offered up his best _aww shucks_, shit-eating grin.

"Run through all the rally girls already?"

Tim groaned, running a hand through his hair, and asked, "Why can't you ever shut up and go with it?"

"Oh, that's romantic! And you wonder why we're not together anymore?"

Tim leaned forward to kiss her, as though he hadn't heard a word she had said, only stopping when Tyra turned her head. She could feel his breath on her cheek, causing her palms to itch with the urge to touch him. Dammit. This was completely wrong. She was over him. She was supposed to be over him.

He wrapped his hand around her neck and whispered, "We're good together when we want to be."

She tilted her head to get a good look at him. She could've killed him for doing this to her. She forced a roll of her eyes. "Or when _you_ want to be, you mean, but most of the time you're a giant pain in the ass."

"Jesus Tyra. Why do you have to make this so hard?"

"Because I deserve better than you and your drunken antics."

Tim nodded and said, "True."

The words she had planned to say flittered off into the afternoon sky. She arched her eyebrow, unsure of what game Tim was playing this time, and tried to think of a response. Truth was, she wasn't used to Tim admitting to anything. Finally, she managed, "What?"

"You're right. I'm a jerk. I know it and you know it. Hell, the whole town knows it."

_I will not fall for this. I will not fall for this._

"Your point?" she replied.

"I'm willing to try and do it right this time if you want. I've been thinking a lot about things, and I keep coming back to you. We've always understood each other, and when you're not pissing me off, no one makes me laugh as much as you do. I figure that's something I should probably try to hold onto."

"When I'm not pissing you off, being key there, Tim, especially since we spend most of our time annoying the hell out of each other."

Tim kissed her forehead, then her cheek, along her jaw, and finally covered her lips with his own. She couldn't deny the basic chemistry or the way her heart pounded in her chest when he touched her like this. And she always thought that these moments were enough, but lately, she wasn't so sure.

Tyra placed her hands on his chest and gently pushed him off her. She said, "That doesn't fix things."

"Tell me what to do, Tyra. I want us to be good again."

Tyra looked up. She wasn't much for prayer, but she really could've used some divine intervention in that moment. Because the thing was...whenever Tim Riggins was concerned, her heart and head tended to lead her in opposite directions. She placed her hands on her hips, hoping that acting like she was confident would make it so, and scowled.

"You're obviously remembering someone else's relationship, Tim Riggins, because what I remember is a lot different."

"C'mon Tyra. It wasn't all bad with me, was it?" he asked, reaching out to caress her face.

And god help her, she leaned in to his touch. It could've been habit (she hoped) or Tim's ability to make girls swoon (and didn't he know it) or, most likely, she had lost her mind and her heart was taking the lead (great, just great). She shook her head and said, "You're a terrible boyfriend, Tim. We've been through this."

"I know, but I can try…"

"Is this really about me and you?" she asked, staring up into his eyes. God, she was going to hate herself later for this.

He nodded and said, "Is it really that hard to believe that I miss you?"

She rolled her eyes and said, "Not really. I'm amazing and you were an idiot to ever let me go."

He chuckled and kissed her again. Her arms went around his neck and pulled him closer. They really were good at this, and god help her, she couldn't pretend he didn't make her feel sexy and perfect when they were entangled in each other.

Tyra shook her head and said, "I should kick your ass."

"You can do that later. Right now, I think we should go to my place."

"Uh-uh…not this time, Tim."

Tim frowned. "I thought…"

"You said you're willing to try, so you better get to it. We can start with a real date, where you tell me how amazing I am to put up with you."

To her surprise, Tim smiled, the rare kind that reached his eyes and took her breath away. He pushed a lock of her hair back from her face and said, "I can do that. Though I can't afford much."

"It's not about money, it's about effort, dumbass."

He nodded and opened the door of her truck for her. She stared at him for a second, unsure of whether Tim had gotten hit too hard in practice or was replaced with an alien version, before leaning forward and kissing his cheek. She said, "Tim Riggins possesses manners. I had no idea."

"Are you free tonight? I can pick you up around seven?"

Tyra nodded and said, "That sounds good."

"Then I'll see you tonight," Tim replied. He shut the door and turned to walk away as Tyra revved the engine.

She knew she was probably setting herself up for heartache, and that the whole thing with Tim would be an unmitigated disaster, but she couldn't deny the hope she felt. She hated herself for it, but it existed all the same. And who knew? Maybe it would turn out to be a good day after all.

_Fin_

4


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